If you want more from your literature, then Seattle Arts & Lectures is precisely what you’re looking for. SAL offers patrons of the literary arts a place to convene and listen to the great minds behind their favorite books speak. Since 1987, the organization has placed readers in the same room as award winning writers like Michael Dorris, John Updike, Donald Barthelme, and Isabel Allende, providing them with authorial insight that would otherwise never be made available. Consider it the literary version of the audio commentary that accompanies your favorite DVDs, which you never watch. Because you are reading! lectures.org

First runner-up: HUGO Literary Series

Second runner-up: APRIL Fest

Honorable mention: Six Pack Series, SFWA Pacific Northwest Reading Series

Read about the rest of the Best of Seattle Reader Poll winners here. If you didn’t get a chance to vote this go-round, make sure your voice is heard next year. Email us at bestofseattle@seattleweekly.com and we will let you know when nominations open for BoS 2017.